Friday, there was a press conference at which five former mayors of Anchorage pledged their support to the One Anchorage Voter Initiative–one that will provide the same legal protections to gay and transgender folks in employment, housing, finances and business that other folks already receive. Per the press release: The bipartisan group consists of: US [...]

by Linda Kellen Biegel Last school year, I wrote a post about the proposed cuts in the Anchorage School District budget and how they would affect a family of a middle school student. It was then I became aware of the outrageous fees Mayor Dan Sullivan was charging the school district–for example: 100% of the [...]

STOP THE PRESSES! This just in – Mayor Dan Sullivan finds way to grease palm of incompetent corrupt crony! Also, sun appears poised to rise tomorrow at daybreak. There’s an old expression – “A boat is a hole in the water into which one pours money.” Boat… port… whatever. The same definition could apply to [...]

Yesterday, I stopped downtown to visit those protesting Mayor Sullivan’s new sidewalk ordinance. When I arrived in the noon hour, there were about two dozen protesters sitting, drinking coffee, and holding signs. Sidewalkers were joined by Occupiers from down the block. For background on the sidewalk ordinance, you can read HERE, and HERE. Sitting or reclining [...]

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! This is Alaska… A 30-year old man escaped from jail during a bathroom break in the remote Western Alaska village of Alakanuk. It’s been nine years since Kevin Patrick has escaped from the Alakanuk jail during a bathroom break. This time his [...]

(photo courtesy of Alaska Commons)By Linda Kellen Biegel A few days ago, Jeanne recounted the tale of Anchorage City Attorney, Dennis Wheeler and his role in the Mayor’s no-lying down/no-sitting sidewalk Ordinance. If you remember, Municipal Attorney Wheeler lied used “a poor choice of words” when he claimed the ordinance had been “run by” the Alaska [...]

Mayor Dan Sullivan is no stranger to controversy. Whether it’s creating a paid position for his personal “party planner,” cashing an illegitimate $193,000 check for a non-existent life insurance policy, pink slipping employees Christmas week, collecting $12,000 for being “mayor elect” before he actually started doing his job,  vetoing an ordinance that would allow the [...]

By Shannyn Moore I’ve never wanted to sit on a sidewalk so badly in my life. This week, seven members of the Anchorage Assembly voted for Mayor Dan Sullivan’s ordinance to create sidewalk sitting hours and rules. Ernie Hall, who has talked about being independent of the mayor, once again, with his vote, proved he [...]

When I moved to Alaska more than twenty years ago, I was expecting something like the TV show Northern Exposure. I figured Alaskans would be really happy and proud that the show “put them on the map,” as it were.  Invariably, when I mentioned it to anyone who had been in Alaska for a while, [...]

Last week, an organization called Equality Works launched the One Anchorage Campaign for a ballot initiative to be voted on by Anchorage residents in the Spring 2012 Municipal Election. The initiative would add sexual orientation and transgender identity to the Municipality’s Equal Rights Code. Per the Press Release from Equality Works: One Anchorage Files Initiative [...]

Driving down Northern Lights Boulevard yesterday, through the heart of our municipality on a lovely Friday afternoon, I saw something that made me do a double-take. I saw… the enemy. Not MY enemy, mind you, but the declared enemy of our city’s mayor, Dan Sullivan. Second only to homeless people, the mayor has it in [...]

On August 3rd, there was a regular meeting of the Municipality Budget Advisory Commission. (You remember, this is the commission that used to be two — the Budget Advisory Commission and the School Budget Advisory Commission. However, when the word “school” made people think twice about the appointment of one of the Mayor’s LGBT-hating wing-nutter [...]

Let’s take a little test from the verbal section of the Anchorage SATs. Smoke is to fire, as skullduggery is to: A) Sleeping kittens B) Mayor Dan Sullivan C) Ex-Assemblyman and current Henchman Dan Coffey D) Both B and C. (I push my spectacles down to the end of my nose, examining your answer.) Well [...]

(Shay Kelly and Shane Patrick of Project 50/50) By Linda Kellen Biegel When I left for the Anchorage Assembly Meeting Tuesday night, there were certain things I already knew to expect: – Mayor Sullivan wanted the ordinance that (among other things) banned sitting/reclining on the sidewalk pulled from the agenda and sent back to a [...]

Yes, you can still fight City Hall! The latest news from Rosemary Shinohara at the Anchorage Daily News is that Mayor Dan Sullivan has requested a “postponement” of consideration on the new sidewalk etiquette ordinance: The administration asked that it be referred to the city’s Public Safety Commission, said Ossiander. A public hearing on the [...]